Santander Consumer USA Expands With Full-Spectrum Auto Lending

DALLAS — Santander Consumer USA Inc. (“Santander”), an industry leader in auto financing, has expanded its Santander Auto Finance lending program to include the prime tiers. This new “full spectrum” of auto lending will make it easier for dealers to sell more vehicles while helping more consumers purchase a car or truck.

In the past, the Santander Auto Finance program has primarily focused on auto loans for customers with near-prime, non-prime and sub-prime credit. The new program allows Santander Auto to fund car loan deals inclusive of consumers in upper or “prime” tiers. The program will provide competitive market pricing for any approved loan application received from the Santander dealer base.

For the dealer, the new program simplifies the process of auto lending by creating a one-click destination for every application/customer. Dealers can send all of their applications through Santander Auto Finance for decisioning without having to think through which lender or program is best suited for a customer based on credit type.

“As leaders in automotive lending, adding the prime tier to the Santander Auto program is a natural extension to our business,” says Matt Fitzgerald, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Santander Consumer USA. “This will be a huge benefit for dealers, because it takes the guesswork out of matching customers with lenders based on credit quality.”

This new program is beneficial for car buyers as well. For more than a decade, Santander has specialized in lending to consumers with less-than-perfect credit, and that won’t change.

“Because we have broad buying power and are truly a full-spectrum lender, we are still dedicated to financing the consumer who needs help,” explains Fitzgerald. “Historically, our company has been the place where credit-challenged buyers can go and get a second chance. We won’t walk away from that responsibility.”

About Santander Auto Finance and Santander Consumer USA Inc.Santander Consumer USA Inc., owner of the Drive®, Santander Auto Finance® and RoadLoans.com® brands, is a leading company in the automotive finance sector, whose core business is indirect, direct and third-party originations and servicing of auto loans. The company has a serviced auto loan portfolio of approximately $21 billion and relationships with nearly 13,000 dealers in the U.S. The company began originating loans in 1997 and is headquartered in Dallas. (http://www.santanderconsumerusa.com and http://www.roadloans.com)

Banco Santander (SAN.MC, STD.N, BNC.LN) is a retail and commercial bank, based in Spain, with a presence in 10 main markets. Santander is the largest bank in the euro zone and is among the top fifteen in the world by market capitalization. Founded in 1857, Santander had EUR 1.383 trillion in managed funds, more than 102 million customers, 14,760 branches – more than any other international bank – and 193,000 employees at the close of 2011. It is the largest financial group in Spain and Latin America. Furthermore, it has significant positions in the United Kingdom, Portugal, Germany, Poland and the U.S. northeast. Santander Consumer Finance operates in the Group’s core markets as well as in the Nordic region. In 2011, Grupo Santander registered EUR 7,021 million in recurring net profit.